Diverse offense a true democratic effort

The Houston Dynamo’s recent success has been a true democratic effort: They have played to a 5-2-3 record in their last 10 games, getting 15 goals from an impressive 10 different players. So what leads to the development of a team that has a number of weapons? Diversity in the attack is a good place to start.

“I think we’re dangerous on set pieces, and we have a lot of guys who can be dangerous with Brad [Davis] serving the ball in,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “Bobby [Boswell] has four and Geoff [Cameron] has five, some of which are from set pieces, so you have that. Then in the run of play, we get our wide guys involved and get service into the box. When we do that, we’re a dangerous team.”

One important cog in Houston’s aerial game is Davis, the player who sets up many of those scoring chances. The midfielder, an MVP candidate with four goals and an MLS-leading 14 assists, is known for putting balls on a platter with his sharp left foot. But even Davis knows he is not doing all the heavy lifting.

“On this team, it’s not about one guy, it’s about all the plays that everyone’s making over the course of 90 minutes,” Davis said. “We have a bunch of different guys stepping up in different ways, and that helps spread things around.”

His claims are backed up by the diversity of positions and players on top of Houston’s goal-scoring list. Three players are currently tied for the overall team lead with five goals (Cameron, Will Bruin and Brian Ching) and the three immediately following them have four goals on the season.

Of the past 15 goals, six have come from forwards, six from midfielders, and three from defenders. With the goals literally coming from everywhere, the Dynamo are the epitome of a team that shares the load.

“The fact that everyone’s scoring is a good thing, and you welcome that,” Ching said. “The pressure from others is good and shows that guys out there have to perform or there are guys nipping at your heels ready to take your place.”

Darrell Lovell covers the Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com. Follow him on twitter via @DynamoExaminer.